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Park Hours: Updates and Discussion

This business with the opening times is quite sad really.

On the one hand, they're doing something that we've all been crying out for by extending opening times to a reasonable degree (which deserves to be praised), but on the other hand, they're doing it in a way that leaves people frustrated by leaving it to the last minute to confirm said opening times.

I understand things are all up in the air at the moment but they can surely give a bit more notice than they currently are.
 
Can we just, maybe, draw a line under this by agreeing that:

A. 10-4 opening hours are unnacceptable for a major theme park.
B. Yes, it is still possible to have a good day with 10-4 opening hours, but that's not the point.
C. It is great that Towers are extending almost all of the 10-4 days this year and opening hours are much improved overall.
D. They should, however, change with more notice given as they are effectively shooting themselves in the foot leaving it so late.

I get it's a contentious issue that splits opinion, and obviously on a Towers forum it's going to be discussed, but there is a LOT of repetition when it comes to this topic, and it does get tedious seeing the same thing being said over and over. And it's not just confined to this thread, it spreads onto several others also.

Just a thought...
 
But that doesn't hide the fact 10-4 is too short, but if you don't like it go at weekend, and I don't care if you work weekends, go in the week instead.
 
The 10 while 4 is and seems very short Hours for a theme park, a 10 while 6 would probably be much better or even 7 , i mean Pleasure beach shortly on a Saturday is 10am - 10pm which is great. But in the future even next season i think greater hours would be welcomed.
 
This weekend they’ve extended until 8pm both days which is a real surprise seeing as the queue times don’t look massive.

What I find really frustrating about these last minute extensions is that it’s fine if you live locally, but I don’t, and many of Alton’s visitors don’t.

Next weekend they’re advertising 5pm close. Chances are that’ll get extended to 6,7 or 8. But I’m not going to risk driving up there just in the off chance and then find that the park actually does close at 5.

If they’re consistently busy every weekend, then at least advertise 6pm close.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
This weekend they’ve extended until 8pm both days which is a real surprise seeing as the queue times don’t look massive.

What I find really frustrating about these last minute extensions is that it’s fine if you live locally, but I don’t, and many of Alton’s visitors don’t.

Next weekend they’re advertising 5pm close. Chances are that’ll get extended to 6,7 or 8. But I’m not going to risk driving up there just in the off chance and then find that the park actually does close at 5.

If they’re consistently busy every weekend, then at least advertise 6pm close.
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Given the queue times today I think you'd get plenty done even if it was 5pm. The queues for the coasters and thrills rides certainly have been busier during the week than today
 
Still not convinced midweek queues are higher, the queue times on Thursday were almost always overestimated, sometimes the actual wait was less than half of what was advertised.
 
Danscott22 said:
Still not convinced midweek queues are higher, the queue times on Thursday were almost always overestimated, sometimes the actual wait was less than half of what was advertised.
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Well yes but I'm taking into account the queue times being overestimated by the same amount at weekends as on weekdays. I went yesterday and most the afternoon the smiler was 70 mins, whereas it was averagely 40-45 this afternoon.
 
Danscott22 said:
Still not convinced midweek queues are higher, the queue times on Thursday were almost always overestimated, sometimes the actual wait was less than half of what was advertised.
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Just a quick flip over to the Family Rides tab on the app tells us that they're not as long midweek as well. If you have a pre schooler in toe, you could easily spend most of your day in Cbeebies land and Walliams World most weekends. It's good that the park realise this and have chosen to accommodate these guests by offering reasonable closing times on these days.

That's if the app times are to be taken as gospel rather than an approximate guide, which we've already identified as the latter being true.
 
I’m surprised we’ve had some of the recent extensions, I was there last weekend and 7pm would have been fine, Monday was 6pm, but the park was not rammed at all. Not that I’m complaining!

I guess there is reasons behind it, and maybe they’ve noticed even if the park isn’t rammed on a 6 or 7 or 8pm close, that guests will spend more money on food and drink and guest satisfaction will be higher, compared to an early close. I know when I’m there on a longer day I will usually spend money on two meals or snacks, which I certainly wouldn’t on a 4pm or 5pm close.
 
8pm close felt excessive yesterday, with almost every single ride being walk on by the end (Smiler was about 5 minutes wait). That said, it was very busy in the middle of the day with long queues and loads of occupied tables on the front lawns enjoying a drink and watching the show. Would that necessarily have been the case if they were closing at 6? Probably not. There is extra income to be had from opening later, for sure.

Interestingly, despite the 8pm park close, the Rapids was shut at 7 (officially due to it being "dusk" which it certainly was not). Personally I wouldn't object to a few smaller attractions closing early if it means that the 8pm close is easier to maintain - maybe that's a direction that they are now exploring. Certainly the likes of Hex and Duel are totally dead towards the end of the day.
 
Yeah I don’t think many people would object to Battle Galleons being on shorter hours either.
But they need to be clearly marked in the app or something that certain rides only operate 11-6 or something.
As discussed about Blackpool, the worst for guest satisfaction is walking all the way to a ride to find it shut earlier than you expected.
 
jon81uk said:
As discussed about Blackpool, the worst for guest satisfaction is walking all the way to a ride to find it shut earlier than you expected.
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That's even more important at Towers, considering it can take 20-30 minutes to walk between certain areas/from one side of the park to the other.
 
I honestly think that the park could get away with running Battle Galleons seasonally, if they ever wanted to save money; I don’t think I’ve ever seen it with riders on it outside of the hot summer months. I think it would make little difference if the ride only opened between, say, May half term and the end of the summer holidays, possibly with the option to open up on days outside of this if the temperature exceeds a certain amount.

I’m honestly staggered that the ride is viable to run outside of the summer months given the virtually non-existent crowds even when the park is busy!
 
D4n said:
8pm close felt excessive yesterday, with almost every single ride being walk on by the end (Smiler was about 5 minutes wait). That said, it was very busy in the middle of the day with long queues and loads of occupied tables on the front lawns enjoying a drink and watching the show. Would that necessarily have been the case if they were closing at 6? Probably not. There is extra income to be had from opening later, for sure.

Interestingly, despite the 8pm park close, the Rapids was shut at 7 (officially due to it being "dusk" which it certainly was not). Personally I wouldn't object to a few smaller attractions closing early if it means that the 8pm close is easier to maintain - maybe that's a direction that they are now exploring. Certainly the likes of Hex and Duel are totally dead towards the end of the day.
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I know if I was on the park on a 10-4 day I probably wouldn’t be wasting much time having a big meal at say RCR or chilling with a pint for long, as you know you haven’t got long before the park shuts. So no doubt people will spend more on a longer day.

I guess with longer days you can also sell more fastrack, as well as food and drink.
 
Matt N said:
I honestly think that the park could get away with running Battle Galleons seasonally, if they ever wanted to save money; I don’t think I’ve ever seen it with riders on it outside of the hot summer months. I think it would make little difference if the ride only opened between, say, May half term and the end of the summer holidays, possibly with the option to open up on days outside of this if the temperature exceeds a certain amount.

I’m honestly staggered that the ride is viable to run outside of the summer months given the virtually non-existent crowds even when the park is busy!
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Same can be said about river rapids. I know that doesn't get you as wet but it's still a water ride that is in a country where the weather is rarely appropriate outside the summer months. God imagine the amount of money they'd save there not having to pump water into the rapids
 
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